There is an independent ivory-bill search going on in east-central Louisiana by a group of Forum members. We thought we’d share our efforts and findings to-date:
This is very intriguing stuff for sure. I couldnt help but be amazed at how close the double knocks were to the only campephilus that I have spent time with - Pale-headed woodpecker. Had you sent me the same recording stating it had been made in Costa Rica I would have not even questioned that it was Pale-headed.
Delighted to hear about a band of such keen searchers in that region. I also appreciated your careful astute way you presented your findings. Top notch for sure. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work. I wish you all the best with your continued searches!
srbio, we really hope you guys can put the nail on the coffin (the coffin of doubts, that is).
Out of curiosity, is this new site anywhere near where Fangsheath was involved with an earlier search, which I seem to recall was also on private property?
Last edited by Sidewinder : 03-14-2010 at 09:18 PM.
I couldnt help but be amazed at how close the double knocks were to the only campephilus that I have spent time with - Pale-headed woodpecker. Had you sent me the same recording stating it had been made in Costa Rica I would have not even questioned that it was Pale-headed.
Don,
Would you have any pictures of Pale-billed foraging sign that you could post in the proper thread?
Would you have any pictures of Pale-billed foraging sign that you could post in the proper thread?
George ... unfortunately I do not. The 2 pale-headeds I was observing/listening to were having a double-knock contest and not foraging. I was filming endangered Green Macaws at the time. The pale-billed just showed up while I was filming. Most folks have probably listened to it before but here is the pale-billed clip from that encounter:
Team Coyote's site is about 90 mi from my area, which is near the coast. I would add that Louisiana has huge blocks of private forest that have never been ground-searched.
srbio, just a friendly suggestion: if you plan on posting updates periodically, having a link for this purpose at your website would be helpful for those who visit occasionally and wonder if anything has changed since their last visit.
srbio, just a friendly suggestion: if you plan on posting updates periodically, having a link for this purpose at your website would be helpful for those who visit occasionally and wonder if anything has changed since their last visit.
Roger. And thanks to those who provided comments on Project Coyote. Nothing really negative so far from anywhere, which is a bit surprising.
I am posting the below message from one of the other searchers involved in Project Coyote. Thanks to all for your interest in the project - I sure wish I had more time to be actively involved in the search. Thanks for reading.
We've had a number of requests for additional information and updates and have added an updates page to the Project Coyote website. While there have been no major new developments, several emailers asked to see close-ups of foraging sign we've found in our search area, and that's the main focus of this week's update. Future updates will include other evidence we've already gathered. Any new, hard data will have to go through a review process, and if we collect any, there may be some delay before we can post it.
Bobby Harrison offers brief details of his recent deployment of robotic (animated) decoys earlier this month in the Cache River at http://www.ibwfound.blogspot.com/. His most recent update was for day 2 on April 8 (posted on April 12 after the trip ended), with nothing eventful reported during the first two days of the search. However, according to a newspaper report published today and picked up by Cyberthrush (click here), at least one individual from the party of six reportedly heard double-knocks on the first day and kents on the second day. Curious...
Last edited by Sidewinder : 04-25-2010 at 10:13 PM.
This is not really Ivory-billed Woodpecker related, but anyone in the Baton Rouge area, your help would be greatly appreciated by this organization: Wings of Hope Wildlife Sanctuary
They are actively engaged in trying to rescue birds affected by the oil spill, and are seeking help feeding the birds at their facility near Livingston, La. Thanks, Don...Hope I haven't done anything to be spanked for! ;-)
They can also be reached at the following number: 225-698-3168.
Last edited by wileycoyote97 : 04-30-2010 at 08:42 AM.
Reason: Left something out.
Reality check on what a nest cavity can holdGo to Top
All-
Due to a recent unfortunate incident, a silver maple tree which contained a nest of baby flickers fell in my neighbor's yard. I had assumed they had fledged already, but I was saddened to find that they had not, and upon examination of the nest cavity, I extracted six dead chicks, each about five inches long (halfway grown). The interesting thing here is the total volume of birds that the cavity was able to hold. The tree was about 10.5 inches across where the nest was. The entrance hole was vertically oblong and about 2 and a half inches across. The interior diameter of the nest was about 8 inches max., with an estimated depth of 10 inches. There was no lining in the nest. So seven birds occupied this nest at night, unless both parents decided to cram in there, which would make it eight. If one allows for the known size of an IBWO clutch and extrapolates for the chicks and adult birds' sizes, it would be logical to posit that an IBWO might be able and willing to nest in a tree of less size than traditionally thought. Apparently the concept of privacy and elbow room is unknown to cavity nesters. Just my observations.
It is worth noting that the inside diameters of four ivory-bill nest cavities in the Singer Tract were between 6 and 10 inches. The nest trees were 13-14 inches in diameter at the cavities. Even in larger trees, the nests do not appear to be any larger. Allen and Kellogg reported 2 nests with diameters of 8-8.5 inches in trees that were 20-25 inches in diameter at the cavities.
I've just returned from a week in our search area. I heard a possible double knock at 6:21 pm on May 24th. I don't generally attach much importance to isolated possible DKs, but on the morning of the 26th, I found fresh bark chips at the base of the heavily scaled oak shown here:
The tree is a recently dead Nuttall oak, with tight bark, only a few hundred yards away from the location of the possible DK. It was the site of our extended auditory encounter in January. We found numerous chips at the base of the tree at that time. One of the largest of these measured 18.5"x6". We had no indications of IBWO activity in this location between January 25 and May 25 or 26th. I placed a camera on the tree immediately after finding the new scaling, and we will continue to monitor it for quite some time. The largest of these new chips is 13"x5".
Bobby Harrison offers brief details of his recent deployment of robotic (animated) decoys earlier this month in the Cache River at http://www.ibwfound.blogspot.com/. His most recent update was for day 2 on April 8 (posted on April 12 after the trip ended), with nothing eventful reported during the first two days of the search. However, according to a newspaper report published today and picked up by Cyberthrush (click here), at least one individual from the party of six reportedly heard double-knocks on the first day and kents on the second day. Curious...
I actually ran into him out on the water when he went out! It was cool. In fact he mentioned that someone with him heard Kent calls.
The site is back up, but the final plan does not seem to be available and is not listed on the IBWO page.
even though the announcement appeared today, it is actually dated MONDAY the 19TH (tomorrow), so I suspect that may be the earliest the report is actually posted (...Sunday is an odd day for the Gov't. to be posting announcements or reports ;-)
even though the announcement appeared today, it is actually dated MONDAY the 19TH (tomorrow), so I suspect that may be the earliest the report is actually posted (...Sunday is an odd day for the Gov't. to be posting announcements or reports ;-)
There's a lot of very important information in the final report. Here's a sample, from Appendix E (page 71,) "Interpreting Historical Status for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker with Recent Evidence for the Species' Persistence in the Southeastern United States" by William C. Hunter:
In summary, there is no evidence that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was ever widely or consistently relocated in the same areas from year to year or from decade to decade prior to 1940, despite the impression one may have about birds at the Singer Tract during the 1930s. Actually, during Tanner’s study the chore in locating birds often took days or weeks even where pairs or family groups were known to occur from previous years (and actually only one nesting pair at John’s Bayou was consistently relocated during his entire study). Whether the birds were truly more nomadic than previously thought, or whether the low percentage of repeated locations historically has been due to the search patterns of ornithologists and collectors is unclear. What is clear is that the present pattern of reports that do not effectively document occurrence of the species has been repeated from decade to decade for more than a century and that the number of locations with potential encounters within the same decade has varied little since the 1870s.
Last edited by MMinNY : 07-20-2010 at 12:32 PM.
Reason: added page number
This summery lends credence to the fact that these birds are truly nomadic and very difficult to locate. And why a clear photo has not been obtained. It's only a matter of time IMO.
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